Friday, November 30, 2012

The Ashland University Department of Music begins to wrap up the 2012 fall semester with three remaining performances including the Fall Honors Recital, Winter Festival Band Concert and the Festival of Lights which are all free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Leonard Salvo, Ashland University Director of Bands, the Ashland Area Community Concert Band begins the concert with "Marche Lorraine" by French composer Louis Ganne followed by W. Francis McBeth's "Chant and Jubilo" which is a work in two contrasting movements including the melodic Chant and the explosive Jubilo featuring the lower brass and percussion sections. Based on the well-known Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts", the third piece of the program, "Chorale and Shaker Dance II" by American composer John Zdechlik, begins with the woodwinds introducing the theme followed by solos for flute, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet then ending with the brass sections playing the chorale while woodwinds perform the fiery obbligato.

AACCB then presents a special event featuring local storyteller Dave Kowalka reciting the story of "The Polar Express" as the ensemble performs the Concert Suite from the animated feature movie. Written by Silvestri and Ballard and arranged by Jerry Brubaker, the featured songs include "Believe," "The Polar Express," "When Christmas Comes to Town" and "Spirit of the Season." The Community Band concludes their portion of the concert with Warren Barker's "It's Christmas," a medley of holiday favorites including "Jingle Bells," O Come All Ye Faithful," "Joy to the World," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Deck the Halls," "Silent Night" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

The 60-piece Ashland University Wind Ensemble, also under the direction of Salvo, performs “A Festival Prelude” by Alfred Reed which is a single movement piece with four distinct sections. The opening “Carol” sets a restrained and gentle mood then the chant from the trombones and trumpets climaxes into the “Antiphonal Chant” carried by the woodwinds. The rhythm picks up for the “Village Song,” which is presented in two bar phrases that rise and fall with the liturgy. The church bells herald the final “Cathedral Chorus” that builds in a steady crescendo, pausing for a soft and sonorous chorale, before continuing with the introduction of additional instruments until all of the colors and intensity of the celebration fill the hall.

Festival of Lights: Sunday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m., Jack and Deb Miller ChapelThis annual candlelight service symbolizes Christ coming into the world. The story is communicated in verse and song with Scripture readings, traditional carols and seasonal choral music by the Ashland University Choir and Ashland Area Chorus directed by Dr. Ron Blackley, and the Ashland Area Chorus directed by Dr. Marla Butke. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Canned food for needy families of Ashland County will be collected at the event and donated to Associated Charities of Ashland.

Monday, November 19, 2012

The 2012-2013 Ashland University Spectrum Series opens with Cleveland's Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire performing Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas
on Thursday, December 6, 7:30 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel.
Produced by the College of Arts and Sciences, Ashland University’s
premiere Spectrum Series presents internationally recognized figures in
the arts to enhance cultural experiences for the University community
and surrounding areas. The Spectrum Series is made possible with
support from The Ohio Arts Council with state
tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and
cultural
enrichment for all Ohioans, and the Ashland University Activities Budget
and Chartering Committee.

Sacrum Mysterium is Apollo's
Fire's groundbreaking new program that took Northeast Ohio by storm in
six sold-out performances last year. Beginning with a Gaelic prayer,
candlelight and a sacred procession, Jeannette Sorrell’s celebration of
Celtic artistic traditions interweaves renaissance choral music with
ancient pagan carols, folk dances and joyous fiddle tunes. A colorful
band of bagpipes, flutes, strings and Celtic harp joins the exquisite
Apollo’s Singers and the radiant Canadian soprano Meredith Hall.

In addition to Apollo's Fire's evening performance, they will present a
Celtic music workshop with Irish flutist Kathie Stewart and hammered
dulcimer player Tina Bergmann on Thursday, November 29, 12:15 p.m. to
1:05 p.m., in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. Stewart and Bergmann
will discuss the origins of Celtic music and its various instruments
while demonstrating the music genre on their own instruments.

Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults; $12 for senior citizens,
students, Ashland University faculty and staff; $10 for groups of 10 or
more; and $2 for Ashland University students with identification.

Discounted season passes for the Spectrum Series are also available for
purchase which include one admission to each of the three series
performances of Apollo's Fire, Five by Design's Club Swing, and Eleone Dance Theatre's Ohio premiere of Dianne McIntyre's Up the Road a-Piece.
Adult season passes are $36 each; and senior citizens, students,
Ashland University faculty and staff season passes are $28 each.

All
tickets can be purchased through the Ashland University Box Office at 419.289.5125, noon to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or online (additional fees apply) at www.ashland.edu/tickets.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Department of Music faculty members Thomas Reed and Scott Garlock performed in the orchestra at PlayhouseSquare in Cleveland this past October for the launch of the Anything Goes National Tour. With Jay Alger as conductor and starring Rachel York as Reno Sweeney, the Cleveland performances included Reed on flute, clarinet, soprano and alto saxophones while Garlock played trombone.

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Reed and Garlock pose with Rachel York.

Reed and Garlock are pictured here with lead actress Rachel York who is best known for her critically acclaimed Broadway performances in City of Angels, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award), The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She also turned heads on television with her courageous portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, “Lucy.”

﻿﻿Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, this revival of Anything Goes ran for 521 performances on Broadway and nabbed three Tonys, including
best-actress, best choreography and the
coveted award for best revival of a musical for the
Roundabout Theatre Company.

Following its opening in Cleveland, Anything Goes will
cruise into more than 25 other cities during the 2012-2013 season.

Friday, November 9, 2012

The
Department of Music at Ashland
University is hosting its annual Invitational High School Choral
Festival on Saturday, November 17 which culminates in a public concert
at 3:45 p.m. in the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The concert is free and
open to the public.

Three Ohio high
schools will engage in a day of musical and educational activities led
by Dr. Rowland Blackley, Professor of Music and Director of Choral
Activities, and Dr. Marla Butke, Associate Professor of Music and
Coordinator of Music Education. Participating choirs include
Loudonville High School directed by Michael Snyder, Coventry High School
(Akron) directed by Julie Strebler-Renner, and Lutheran West (Rocky
River) directed by Ronald Muth. For the public concert, musical
selections will be performed by each high school choir followed by a
combined piece performed by all of the choirs and the Ashland University
Choir.

Monday, October 29, 2012

The
Department of Music at Ashland
University is presenting a full slate of student recitals in November
including senior and junior recitals as well as student ensemble
performances. All of the student recitals are free and open to the
public and are held in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall in the Center
for the Arts (formerly known as the Arts & Humanities Building).

The student
recitals begin on Sunday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m. with a senior recital
by Margaret Rickard on oboe. She will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina
Draganova and joined by guest musician Margaret Couts on oboe.
Margaret is a graduate of Cloverleaf High School (Lodi, OH), and is an
instrumental music education major studying privately
with oboist Andria Hoy.

On
Sunday, November 11 at 5:00 p.m., clarinetists Alex VanScoy and Katie
Stone will present a joint junior recital. They will be accompanied by
pianist Pavlina Draganova and joined by guest clarinetists Robin Wolf
and Janet Ankomah. Alex and Katie are music education majors and both
study privately with Professor Thomas Reed.
Alex graduated from Huron High School (Huron, OH) and Katie graduated
from Riverview High School (Sarasota, FL).

Also
on November 11 at 7:30 p.m., Janet Ankomah will perform her senior
recital on clarinet. She will be accompanied by pianist Pavlina
Draganova and joined by her applied Music Professor Thomas Reed on bass
clarinet, and clarinetists Robin Wolf, Alex VanScoy, and Katie Stone.Janet is a native of Erie, PA and a graduate of
Mansfield Senior High School studying music education with an
instrumental emphasis.

The
Jazz combos and percussion ensemble will present a student ensembles
recital on Wednesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. Under the direction of
instructors Jeff Neitzke and Ashley Summers, these ensembles will
perform a wide variety of traditional and contemporary pieces.

On Thursday, November
15 at 7:30 p.m., the student chamber ensembles will each perform a
selection of chamber music. The ensembles include the brass under the
direction of Michael Metcalf, clarinets with Dr. Reed, flutes with Jane
Berkner and strings with Jane Reed.

The last student
recital for the month is a senior recital with oboist Margaret Couts on
Sunday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m. She will be accompanied by pianist
Pavlina Draganova and joined by guest musician Margaret Rickard, English
horn.A graduate of Delaware Hayes High School (Delaware,
OH), Margaret is an instrumental music education major studying
privately with Andria Hoy.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Ashland
University’s fall choral concert presents a program of music in the spiritual tradition including mostly, but not exclusively, Christian texts by composers from several
centuries in various musical styles. The concert will feature three University vocal ensembles including the Ashland University Choir,
Ashland Area Chorus and Ashland University Women’s Chorus on Sunday, October
14, 4:00 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The performance is free
and open to the public.

Conducted by Dr. Rowland Blackley, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, and
accompanied by University organist Dr. Timothy Guenther, the Ashland
Area Chorus will present two major oratorio choruses by George Frideric
Handel including “Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound” from Samson, and “Sing Unto God” from Judas
Maccabeaus, along with John Rutter's “Open Thou Mine Eyes.”

Dr. Blackley will also conduct the Ashland University Choir performing Jacques Arcadelt's "Ave Maria"
from the Italian Renaissance period, two settings of the famous poem “I
Am the Rose of Sharon” from
the Biblical Song of Songs by the early American composer William
Billings and contemporary Swiss composer Ivo Antognini, and "The Eyes of
All" by twentieth century American composer Jean Berger. The University Choir will also sing "True Light," a gospel-style piece
by Keith Hampton, with piano accompaniment by Bret Cowden, senior vocal
performance major from Paris, Ohio; and "My Soul’s Been Anchored in the
Lord” by Moses Hogan, the
greatest composer and arranger of African-American spirituals in the
latter
part of the twentieth century.

The Ashland University Women's Chorus, directed by Dr. Marla Butke,
Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education, will perform two
Native American pieces and sacred music by Antonio Caldera, Eleanor
Daley, and John Rutter with Holly Allan as accompanist. The Native
American songs arranged by Barbara Sletto will feature Alex VanScoy on
recorder for "Ancient Mother," and Stephen Morsher on percussion for
"The Earth Is Our Mother." The sacred pieces will include Nancy
Grundahl's arrangement of Caldera's "Laudamus Te," Daley's "The Cloths
of Heaven," Rutter's "A Clare Benediction," and Valerie Shields
arrangement of E. Amiran's "Mayim, Mayim" with Don Haught on flute.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tickets for the 37th Annual Madrigal Feaste go on sale to the public on
Monday, September 24 at 12 p.m. Patrons are reminded that this is a very
popular event and the box office will be incredibly busy. For
immediate service, the box office recommends that patrons come to the
box office window located in the lobby of Hugo Young Theatre at the
corner of College Avenue and Grant Street or order online at www.ashland.edu/tickets
(additional fees apply for online orders). Patrons can also call the
box office at 419.289.5125, but phone lines are expected to be busy.

Ashland
University Department of Music produces the annual
Madrigal Feaste which is slated for Wednesday through Sunday, November 28 – December 2. All performances begin at 6:30 PM in Redwood Hall.

Directed by Dr. Rowland Blackley, director of choral
activities, the Madrigal Feaste is a dinner theater based on the period of
Queen Elizabeth I of England around 1600. With entertainment provided
throughout the evening, the event includes Christmas carols, ceremonial music
and madrigals performed by the Ashland University Chamber Singers while the
Madrigal Players present a new play each year along with other theatrical
stunts throughout the evening. Performer costumes are designed as authentic
reconstructions of period apparel; and the Feaste includes a four-course meal
culminating in flaming bread pudding. Vegetarian meals are available upon
request at the time of ticket purchase.

The 2012 Madrigal Feaste Chamber Singers feature
Jordan Black as the King and Katie Vargo as the Queen along with their
court including Bret Cowden, Matthew Dawson, Sam Diemer, Christopher
Goffos, D. R. Haught, Derek Jackenheimer, Emily Jeppesen, Erin
Lingenfelter, Courtney McCreary, Emily Plank, Jacob Poiner, Brandy Riha,
Andrew Shaffer, Emily Springer and Alex VanScoy. Led by Eddie Carney as
the Jester, the Madrigal Players will be announced at a later date.

Tickets for the event are $26 for adults; $15 for children
under 12; and $23 for groups of 10 or more. A special $11 ticket is
available to Ashland University students for the Wednesday performance only. A
vegetarian option is available upon request at the time of ticket purchase. Due to preparation of meals,
tickets are not available at the door.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Ashland University Department of Music and the Ohio Chapter of the Dalcroze Society of America is offering several Dalcroze workshops throughout the year beginning September 22. Information about the workshops including their content, dates, times and prices are listed below with the complete registration form available here.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Ashland University Department of Music is offering a summer graduate
mini-conference for general music and choral teachers on July 23 to 27
in Room 242 of the Center for the Arts. The 5-day conference offers an
exciting and unique format including daily eurhythmics and folk dancing
along with 20 different workshops presented in 3-hour sessions.

Organized by Dr. Marla Butke, coordinator of music education, other
clinicians for the conference include Ron Blackley, Dara Gillis, Arlene
Jacobs, Brian Nabors, Janelle Roshong, Roger Sams, C. M. Shearer,
Trishah Snowden, Julie Swank, Jim Tinter and Jeanne Wohlgamuth. The
clinicians will lead workshops focusing on Dalcroze, Kodaly and Orff
methodologies, middle school lessons and recorders; as well as
conducting, diction, spirituals, show choir, musical theatre, and
repertoire for elementary, middle and high schools.

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Ashland University Department of Music presents its final choral concert of the year featuring three vocal groups performing popular favorites from Gershwin to James Taylor and Stevie Wonder on Sunday, April 29, 4:00 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The concert features the Ashland University Chamber Singers, Women's Chorus and is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Stephanie Sikora with assistance by pianist Holly Allan and a jazz combo with D R Haught, Ben Schnell and Aaron Hill, the Women's Chorus will perform Pat Ballard's 1954 Billboard chart hit Mister Sandman, Bobby Darin's classic hit Beyond the Sea as arranged by Holly Allan, Rsephanye Powell's spiritual Still I Rise, and Ron Jeffers I Have Had Singing. The Women's Chorus also will feature senior members Alaina Bosak, Helena Marshall, Laura Huntington, and Lindsay Hartke on the Gershwin for Girls Medley.

The Chamber Singers, directed by Rowland Blackley, will present Gene Puerling's arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square which was made famous by the Manhattan Transfer, James Taylor's Lonesome Road, Icarus by Ralph Tower, and Ysaye Barnwell's Wanting Memories.

The concert will also introduce the student-led a capella ensemble Surround Sound as they perform three popular songs including Neil Diamond's I'm a Believer, Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours, and This Love as performed by Maroon 5.

Surround Sound also will present a late evening concert with an extended program on Sunday, April 29, 8:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The 10-member ensemble will present a program of Billboard chart hits and an original composition which have been arranged for a capella by Deke Sharon or Surround Sounds' Brandy Riha. Songs to be performed include Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours, Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten, Neil Diamond's I'm a Believer as performed by The Monkeys, I'm Yours/You Belong with Me as performed by Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift, This Love as performed by Maroon 5, I Want You Back as performed by The Jackson 5, and Precipitation, an original song by Brandy Kay Riha and Kirstan Orgel.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Ashland Area Community Concert Band (AACCB) and Ashland University Concert Band, both under the direction of Ashland University Director of Bands Leonard Salvo, will perform a joint concert on Sunday, April 22 at 4:00 p.m. in the University's Hugo Young Theatre. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert will begin with the Community Band performing Howard Cable's arrangement of The Shield of Freedom March, the signature tune for the movie of the same name, followed by Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F for Military Band. This suite in four movements uses English folk songs and folk dance tunes throughout. Third Suite by Robert Jager includes three movements titled March, Waltz and Rondo. The final two pieces performed by AACCB are Arthur Benjamin's Jamaican Rumba, a light music piece full of attractive ideas and catchy rhythms; and his First String Quartet (Pastorale Fantasia) which was awarded a Carnegie Prize in 1924.

After a brief intermission, the Ashland University Concert Band will take the stage with Gustav Holst's three-movement Suite No. 1 in E-Flat, and continue with Robert Russell Bennett's five-movement Suite of Old American Dances which opens with Cake Walk, then the Scotch round dance Schottische, the pre-cursor to the Fox Trot Western One-Step, then the Wallflower Waltz and ending with the bright, syncopated Rag. Guest soprano saxophonist Thomas Reedwill perform with the band on his composition Shades of Blue, which he wrote in 2000 for the Ashland University Concert Band. The work is cast in a single movement but outlines four major sections: an introduction, a jazz waltz, a jazz ballad and a closing allegro. Following the presentation of the outstanding band member scholarship, recognition of the senior members and the playing of the Ashland University Alma Mater, Remember, the band will conclude their program with W. Francis McBeth's The Sea Treaders (In Calm and Storm). Commissioned by the United States Naval Academy Band for its 150th anniversary celebration, the work portrays the sea in both calm and storm in two connected movements.

The annual Ohio Music Education Association Conference was a busy time for Ashland music grads. About 25 alums attended the weekend conference February 16-18 in Columbus, and many we able to join us for our alumni reception.

Megan Routh

We were proud to see three of our graduates, Geoff Zimmerly, Megan Routh, and Trishah Snowden present clinics at OMEA. This is a significant honor for them, and shows the fine careers our graduates are developing. Megan and Geoff teach in the Loudonville-Perrysville School District, and Trishah in the Nordonia Schools.

Trishah Snowden's presentation was titled “Engaging Tweeners: Creative Projects and Activities for the General Music Classroom.” Megan Routh and Geoff Zimmerly gave a joint presentation titled “From General Music to Ensembles: Molding the K-12 Musician,” and Routh also presented “ Creating a Seamless General Music Classroom: Tips and Techniques for New Teachers.”

Friday, April 13, 2012

The award-winning Ashland University Jazz Orchestra will perform a wide variety of selections at a free public concert on Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center’s Eagles Nest.

Led by Ashland University Associate Professor of Music Dr. Scott Garlock, the program will be selected from pieces including Bob Washut's "Leap of Faith," Matt Harris' "Mambo de Memo," Bobby Timmons "Dat Dere," Thad Jones' "Big Dipper" and Mike Tomaro's "Pump It Up." Piano soloist Jon Barko will be featured on Bob Curnow's "Promise of Dreams" while vocalist Katie Vargo sings B.B. King's "Caught a Touch of Your Love," and Bob Curnow's arrangement of "I'll be Seeing You." Dr. Garlock will be featured on trombone for Frank Mantooth's arrangement of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most."

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The end-of-the-semester rush begins with numerous student recitals presented by the Ashland University Department of Music. From senior recitals to various student ensembles and an honors recital, all of the following recitals will be held in the Center for the Arts’ Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall unless otherwise noted. All recitals are free and open to the public.

Beginning on Sunday, April 15 at 5:00 p.m., a senior recital will feature mezzo-soprano Lauren Massaro who studies with vocal instructor Dione Bennett. Accompanied by pianist Pavlina Draganova, Massaro will perform works by Franz Schubert, Giovanni Pergolesi, Robert Schumann, Edward Elgar, John Ireland and more. She is a graduate of Norwayne High School (Creston, Ohio), and is a vocal music education major.

Also on April 15 at 7:30 p.m., pianist Kara Mitchell-Mumea will present her senior recital under the direction of Trustees Professor Elizabeth Pastor. Kara is a piano performance and philosophy major from Butler, Ohio.

The Ashland University percussion ensemble directed by Jeffrey Neitzke and various jazz combos directed by Scott Garlock will perform a joint recital on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Soprano Chanae Curtis presents her senior recital on Sunday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. A vocal student of Dionne Bennett, Chanae is a graduate of Cleveland Heights High School.

On Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m., the University brass, string and woodwind ensembles will present a joint recital at the Hawkins-Conard Student Center Auditorium. Michael Metcalf directs the brass ensemble while Lindsay Brown leads the strings and Tom Reed directs the woodwinds.

The spring honors recital is slated for Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. which showcases the department’s student musicians who accomplished exceptional work in the spring semester.

The final performance of the semester will be performed by the University's newest music ensemble Surround Sound on Sunday, April 29 at 8:30 p.m. Advised by Rowland Blackley, Surround Sound is a student vocal a cappella organization that was formed last year.

Ashland University Department of Music presents two evenings of music, romance and fun with opera scenes from The Magic Flute to The Marriage of Figaro and La Traviata. The performances which are free and open to the public are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, 7:30 p.m. at the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall.

Under the direction of Stephanie Sikora, Professor of Music and Head of the Voice Area in the Department of Music at Ashland University, this annual event features vocal performances from fifteen student singers. The female cast includes sopranos Jessica Blake, Chanae Curtis, Rachel Gollhart, Kara Minton, Brandy Riha and Katie Vargo along with mezzo-soprano Susie Strobel. Male singers include tenors Jordan Black, Derek Jackenheimer, Chris Sherer and Caleb Stout; baritones Christopher Goffos and Andrew Shaffer; and bass-baritones Bret Cowden and John Fielding.

With scenes from six different operas each evening, the program presents scenes from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute, Donizetti’s Elixir of Love, Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Lehar's The Merry Widow and Verdi's La Traviata.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Directed by Arie Lipsky, several faculty members from the Ashland University Department of Music combine their talents with Lipsky for a chamber ensemble recital on Sunday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital. The performance is free and open to the public.

Known in the Ashland area as the music director and conductor for the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Arie Lipsky is a native of Haifa, Israel, where he received extensive training as a cellist and flutist. He holds degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Music which he received before serving in the Israeli armed forces as a tank commander. After moving to the United States, Arie served as Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and graduated from there with distinction. During this period he also assumed conducting responsibilities with the Ohio Light Opera. He moved to Buffalo, New York in 1984 to become the Philharmonic's principal cellist and, in 1990, also became the Resident Conductor, a position he held for twelve years. Maestro Lipsky is currently in his fifteenth season as Music Director and Conductor of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, and also in his eleventh season as Music Director and Conductor of the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Symphony.

Ashland University Department of Music presents a spring choral concert featuring the Ashland University Choir, Chamber Singers and Women’s Chorus on Sunday, March 25, 4:00 p.m. at the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Rowland Blackley, the Ashland University Choir will be accompanied by bells and Timothy Guenther on organ for Charles Ives' "Psalm 90." Their pieces will also include Heinrich Schütz's "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" (For God so loved the world), Charles Villiers Stanford's Beati quorum via (Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord), the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" arranged by Jonathan Quick, and John Rutter's arrangement of the English folk song "Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron."

The Ashland University Chamber Singers also directed by Dr. Blackley will present Romantic part songs by Stanford, MacFarran and Sir Arthur Sullivan; two madrigals by twentieth-century composer George Mabry and Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik."

Ashland University Department of Music congratulates junior, voice-performance major Bret Cowden (United Local High School, Hanoverton, Ohio) for recent achievements based on his talent.

In Akron Tuesday Musical Association's annual competition, Cowden was awarded second place in the voice area. This scholarship program is widely recognized as one of the best in Northeastern Ohio. Since its inception in 1955, nearly 500 scholarships have been awarded in categories of voice, piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, organ and music education.

Bret also auditioned and was selected to participate in this summer's Johanna Meier Opera Theatre Institute in Spearfish, South Dakota. Now in its fourteenth year, the institute selected 20 to 25 aspiring pre-professional opera singers from all over the United States and Canada for this unusual two-week program. Students are assigned roles in April and are asked to memorize their roles before arriving in South Dakota. World famous operatic soprano Johanna Meier is the artistic director, and the stage director is Bruce Donnell of the Metropolitan Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. Operatic conductor John Stewart is a former leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera and in Europe who recently retired from teaching voice and opera at the University of St. Louis. New York pianists Charis Dimaris and Elizabeth Hastings serve as vocal coaches and accompanists. Melanie Palm provides instruction in movement and dance. By working in an ensemble atmosphere, student camaraderie develops an important understanding of future rapport with colleagues, coaches, and those in charge of opera production.

Studying under voice professor Stephanie Sikora, Cowden will present his junior recital at Ashland University with fellow voice major Brandy Kay Riha on Thursday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. He also will appear in the music department's annual Opera Scenes performances on Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14, 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall. These events are free and open to the public.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

In Celebration of Music in Our Schools Month, Ashland University Department of Music will host the annual Ashland County Junior High School Honors Band on Sunday, March 18 at 4:00 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre with the Ashland University Concert Band as the featured guest ensemble. Leonard Salvo, Ashland University Director of Bands, will conduct both bands. The concert is free and open to the public.

Consisting of 80 members, the Ashland County Junior High Honors Band includes seventh and eighth grade students from Ashland, Crestview, Hillsdale, Mapleton and Perrysville Middle Schools (Loudonville). Members of the Ashland County Band Directors Association met with Leonard Salvo and Joe Barone, this year’s chairman and Loudonville-Perrysville’s band director, to plan the program. The committee of band directors selects the honors band members based on merit and instrumentation needs of the band. Students meet at Ashland University on Thursday, March 15 and Sunday, March 18 to rehearse and present this program with music ranging from classical selections to traditional marches.

The 65-member Ashland University Concert Band will open the concert with a cameo program of wonderful but unusual music chosen especially to highlight the day. The Junior High School Honors Band will perform following the University Concert Band’s program.

The combination of these two bands make for a rewarding, exciting and satisfying musical experience for both the performers and the audience. Admission is complimentary and a recording can be ordered.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Ashland University’s award-winning Jazz program is proud to present the 2012 Maplerock Jazz Festival slated for Friday, March 16. Along with free performances by area high school jazz ensembles in the afternoon, the event presents a main stage concert at 7:30 p.m. in Hugo Young Theatre featuring guest artist and jazz violinist Zach Brock and his trio The Magic Number. The afternoon performances are free and open to the public while tickets for the evening concert are available through the Ashland University Box Office at 419.289.5125, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or online (additional fees apply) at www.ashland.edu/tickets.

One of the most virtuosic and emotive voices of contemporary jazz violin, Zach Brock has followed a path which embraces not only jazz, but also classical, world, and popular music. From critical acclaim as a bandleader to international exposure in collaborations with Stanley Clarke, Grazyna Auguscik, and Frank Vignola, Zach continues to gain admiration from both jazz purists and music enthusiasts alike. Zach’s repertoire includes re-workings of songs by Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Phil Markowitz, and Zbigniew Seifert, in addition to an evolving catalogue of his own compositions. His latest CD The Magic Number offers a telling glimpse of why Zach is being heralded as “the pre-eminent improvising violinist of his generation.” (Neil Tesser, Chicago Examiner)

The Magic Number is an acoustic trio with Zach on violin, Matt Wigton on bass, and Fred Kennedy on drums, as well as wordless vocals and pitched percussion. The group’s unusual instrumentation allows for a wide variety of sounds, from sparse to dense, and the group’s repertoire is a mix of Zach’s original compositions with original arrangements of modern and classic jazz and pop standards.

The Jazz Festival's afternoon performances begin at 1:30 p.m. with Ashland High School Jazz Band B, followed at 2:00 p.m. with Rittman High School Jazz Band; Lakewood High School Jazz Bandat 2:30 p.m., and conclude with Ashland High School Jazz Band A at 3:00 p.m.

Fresh off their spring tour of Spain, the evening concert begins with several selections performed by the Ashland University Jazz Orchestra led by Ashland University Associate Professor of Music Dr. Scott Garlock. Works performed will be selected from jazz favorites including Satin Doll, In the Mood, Come Rain or Come Shine; along with newer arrangements such as Semi-Mental Journey, Besame Mucho and Tio Jorge. Immediately following the AU Jazz Orchestra, Zach Brock and The Magic Number will headline the evening concert.

Tickets for the evening concert are $12 for adults; $5 for senior citizens, non-Ashland University students and Ashland University faculty and staff; and free for Ashland University students.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents a faculty recital with soprano Dione Bennett and pianist Pavlina Draganova on Sunday, February 26 at 5:00 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert program offers a "World of Colors" through the Latin rhythms of Xavier Montsalvage, the jazz fusion of Ricky Ian Gordan, the classical musings of Robert Owens, H. T. Burleigh, John Carter and Rosephanye Powell. Bennett will also highlight the poetry of Langston Hughes.

An established pedagogue, Bennett is in her eighth year at Ashland University and is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She expects the conferral of her doctorate in May from the University of Illinois where she studied with professor Cynthia Haymon. Further study has taken her to Graz, Austria with the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) where an Austrian newspaper said she was “the discovery of the evening”. A performer in such operatic roles as Micaela (Carmen), Bess (Porgy and Bess); Mimi (La Bohéme); Suor Genevieffa (Suor Angelica); and Lucy (Treemonisha); and such oratorio’s as Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mass in C, Schubert's Mass in G, Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ, and Mozart's Vespers, she has been featured with the Warren Philharmonic, Akron Symphony, Ashland Symphony, Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, Columbus Symphony, Eastern Illinois Symphony as well as Cleveland Opera and Opera Western Reserve. As an avid recitalist, she paired with pianist John Wustman singing Brahms, Berlioz, and Burleigh as well as a journey of the development of spirituals.

A native of Bulgaria, Mrs. Draganova is a staff accompanist at Ashland University and the principal pianist of Ashland Symphony Orchestra. She earned her first masters degree in piano performance from Pancho Vladigerov State Academy of Music, Sofia studying with Stela Dimitrova and the prominent Bulgarian piano duo Konstantin and Julia Ganev. After moving to the United States, she graduated with a masters in piano performance from The University of Michigan where she was a student of Louis Nagel. Mrs. Draganova has been on the faculties of the Music High School, Plovdiv; The Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, Plovdiv; and Pancho Vladigerov State Academy of Music, Sofia. An active performer as a collaborative and solo musician, Pavlina has performed in major cities in Bulgaria, Michigan and Ohio, and appeared as a soloist with the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra under Maesto Dobrin Petkov. As a member of the Michigan Music Teachers Association she performed at the organization's 120th State Conference.

Monday, January 30, 2012

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents a faculty recital with pianist Pavlina Draganova on Sunday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert program begins with J. S. Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier" followed by Beethoven's Sonata Nr. 21 in C Major, and "Reflections in the Water" from Debussy's Book 1 of "Images." After a brief intermission, Pavlina performs Rachmaninov's Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op. 42 and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor.

A native of Bulgaria, Mrs. Draganova is a staff accompanist at Ashland University and the principal pianist of Ashland Symphony Orchestra. She earned her first masters degree in piano performance from Pancho Vladigerov State Academy of Music, Sofia studying with Stela Dimitrova and the prominent Bulgarian piano duo Konstantin and Julia Ganev. After moving to the United States, she graduated with a masters in piano performance from The University of Michigan where she was a student of Louis Nagel. Mrs. Draganova has been on the faculties of the Music High School, Plovdiv; The Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, Plovdiv; and Pancho Vladigerov State Academy of Music, Sofia. An active performer as a collaborative and solo musician, Pavlina has performed in major cities in Bulgaria, Michigan and Ohio, and appeared as a soloist with the Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra under Maesto Dobrin Petkov. As a member of the Michigan Music Teachers Association she performed at the organization's 120th State Conference.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents a faculty recital with flutist Jane Berkner and pianist Kim Bakkum on Sunday, February 5 at 3:00 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Jane Berkner and Kim Bakkum have been performing together since 1997 appearing in concert venues across the Midwest, as well as Sere Musicale and Corofest Assisi in Italy. They have performed for the National Flute Association and with the Singers Companye at the National Gallery in Washington, DC; and in 2007 released a CD together, “In Cynthia’s Garden”. For their faculty recital at Ashland, they will perform works by Paul Taffanel, Fikret Amirov, Shulamit Ran, Daniel Dorff, Carl Reinecke and Michael Garson.

Jane Berkner is on the music faculties of both Ashland University and the University of Akron, and has performed with the Akron, Ashland, Canton and Youngstown Symphonies, the Ohio Ballet Orchestra, O’Neil Chamber Players and the Chamber Music Society of Ohio. Currently performing with guitarist Stephen Aron in the duo AronBerkner, they are presenting concerts across the United States, and will be playing and teaching at Suonare in Italia in Assisi, Italy during the summer of 2012. Recognized for her expertise as a flute choir director, she was coordinator of the National Flute Association’s High School Flute Choir from 2001 to 2006, and is the director of a summer flute choir camp for adults at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is also arts and enrichment director for the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Ohio Arts Presenters Network. www.janeberkner.com

A Montana native, Kim Bakkum is an active pianist in the Akron-Cleveland area of Ohio. She holds a masters in piano performance from Western Michigan University, and has done extensive studies in art song and opera in Graz and Vienna, Austria. She has been on the faculties of the University of Montana, the University of Akron and Kent State University. She has performed with Cleveland Opera on Tour, Porthouse Summer Theatre, O’Neil Chamber Players, Canton Players Guild, the Wiener Symphoniker Percussion and Flute Seminars, and was coordinator of piano studies for the Western Michigan High School piano camp. She has been chairperson of the Independent Music Teachers Forum for the state of Ohio, and is a popular adjudicator and clinician throughout the state.

Friday, January 6, 2012

The Department of Music at Ashland University presents a faculty recital on Sunday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Pastor Recital Hall featuring Music Department Chair and Professor of Music Thomas Reed on clarinet and saxophone with pianist Pavlina Draganova. The performance is free and open to the public.

The program begins in the Baroque style with J. S. Bach's Partita in A minor in four movements, then jumps to the Romantic era with Reed's arrangement of Georges Bizet's Minuet and Carillon from the play "L'Arlesienne," and Fred Hemke's arrangement of Robert Schumann's "Three Romances." Pieces from the twentieth century include Vincent David's arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Rapsodie," and Louis Cahuzac's "Cantilene," with the concert concluding with Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in three movements.

Contributors

about ASHLAND MUSIC NEWS

ASHLAND MUSIC NEWS is a blog to provide news and information about our programs, students, faculty, and ensembles.Ashland University is a private, comprehensive institution in Ashland, OH, founded in 1878.The Department of Music is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music.